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Tuesday, September 24, 2013

2013 Prefontaine Memorial 10K Race Report

On Saturday, I had the opportunity to run The Prefontaine 10K, with Emme. She had been wanting to sign up for a road race for quite a while, so earlier in the summer I talked to her about the possibility of running The Pre with me. She was all about it. Coming off a fantastic track season, Emme had a desire to keep running over the summer and with this 6+ mile race in her future, it gave her incentive to do just that. She was able to go on a few runs with my sister who was staying with us and I took her out a few times too, so that she could get a feel for the course... very, very hilly. More than anything, I wanted her to know what she had gotten herself into and have fun with it.

Last week, I spent most of the time feeling miserable with a horrible head cold turned sinus infection. The last thing I felt like doing was running a race, most likely in the rain, so when Emme said that we needed to dress up in tutus, I was slightly hesitant but ultimately agreed. After a little planning, we decided our outfits and laid them out the night before for good luck:

Race day eve was miserable. It poured and poured and poured and was still pouring when we got up and were getting ready to go. However, about 20 minutes before we needed to leave, I spotted a bit of blue sky and by the time we got to the start line the sun out and it was a gorgeous day!

We spent a few minutes chatting with some friends,

and then it was about time to go. At first Emme was a tad bit hesitant and acted slightly scared

but she couldn't fool me, deep down she was super excited!!

A quick countdown and we were off and headed towards the hills!! When Emme glanced the first hill, the only hill she hadn't run up before, all she said was, "Wow!"

but she powered up it, without hesitation.

Once we got up the hill, things started clearing out a bit, crowd wise, which was a huge relief to Emme... apparently, she kept getting elbowed in the head. I guess that's the downfall of being a "short" racer. The first few miles, went by without much incident. After gulping an entire cup of water at the first water stop and immediately getting a side ache, Emme came to appreciate the art of sipping small amounts of water. We walked a little bit here and there, but mostly on the downhill portions, she was eating up the hills. There was a "sprinkler station" that Emme was a huge fan of. I think it might have made the race for her.

Then, before we knew it, we were at the halfway point and Emme was flying around the cones. Nothing but smiles.

Shortly after the turnaround, we ran into this dynamic duo. I sent Emme on ahead, while I stopped for a photo shoot.

I think Emme took that as her cue to seriously take off becuase I had to put forth a decent effort in order to catch back up to her. That is until she started doing fancy footwork up the hill. That slowed her a bit.

Between miles 4 and 5, Emme started struggling a little bit. We were in new territory for her distance wise as well as on the biggest hill of the course, "Agony Hill". Since I had my phone to play in-race photographer, I also had access to some great tunes, tunes that really got her running, like "This Girl is on Fire" and "Barbie Girl". I think mostly they got her running because she was embarrassed of my serenading and sweet dance moves that accompanied the music. Ha! Towards the top of the hill, there were quite a few little girls that thought the tutus were pretty cool, so Emme and I had to do a little dance for them, then we ran to the top which was awesome, because some of Emme's friends were there and they really cheered her on.

Heading down the last hill, Emme's biggest complaint was that her feet were really hurting. I told her that we had less than a mile to go and that as soon as she got around the track she could take her shoes off. She told me that as soon as we got to the track, she was going to sprint because she "loves to run fast on the track". She held true to her word and started sprinting as soon as she saw the track and somehow managed to pick up speed as we ran around it. All the while, doing it with a huge smile on her face.

She even managed to cruise past 5 people before she crossed the finish line.

After we finished up, we got some water and took some pictures. Then Emme met up with some friends who had done the 2 mile walk and proceeded to do sprints all across Marshfield's football field.

Luckily, I thought it would be fun to stick around for the awards ceremony "just in case" because Emme's time of 1:05:27 managed to place her 2nd in her age group

and she walked away with this super awesome plaque that is a mini replica of the Prefontaine sculpture at the Coos Bay library.

We then came home to signs on the door, just for Emme, the sign queen herself.

We both had a super fun time and it is definitely a memory that I will treasure forever.

9 comments:

Emme is the first kid her age I've known to run that far, so of course I'm SUPER impressed! I imagine that running her first race with her might have been similar to my singing with my daughter for her first time performing a solo in church (duet). Although, you probably didn't get choked up and, well, choke, as badly as I did, ha ha! I'm so glad you got to do this with Emme! And, all the photos you shared were super fun!

Aw, so awesome!! Your daughter looks so darn happy! How old is she? My daughter wants to run a 5K, but I'm leary of her being to young yet... I don't want it to be a bad experience, ya know.Great outfits too!

What a fun report!! She looks like she had a total blast .... and she's totally a mini-you! You're twins, adorable! I always stay for awards, but this year I was so sweaty and hungry and I bailed on them. Darn it, would have been awesome to cheer for her as she got her award!

OC&E State Trail

A little about me...

I'm a mother of five and obsessed with running. I'm married to a great guy who is willing to support and even encourage my running habits. We're happy to be be living in Eugene were there are an abundance of tracks and trails to run on. Go Ducks!